HELP! Calling all villa experts...

[butterfly8]

We are taking my parents to WDW for Christmas and I am SO excited! It will be their very first trip and I want them to love WDW as much as I do, so I am trying to make everything wonderful for them. Currently we are planning to share a room at CSR Dec. 19-27 (dates are workable) with the Annual Pass rate of about $88 a night. We love that resort, and it's a GREAT rate, however, I think we would all be happier with a little more space and privacy! So I am thinking maybe a 2 bedroom villa would be more comfortable for 4 adults...

Now, we have multiple trips to WDW under our belt, but we have never gotten a timeshare/condo/villa (is there a difference?) before. So if all you experts could help out this newbie I would really appreciate it!

Right now I'd like to find out...

1. Which ones are clean and nice ( or more specifically which ones to particularly avoid! lol)
2. Which are closest to WDW (we will have a car but we won't be doing Universal, so I really don't want to deal with the traffic on that end of town, unless you know of a shortcut )
3. How do I go about using skyauction or hotelkingdom to get a rate of no more than $100 a night

So basically, to make this long story short- where do you stay and how much do you pay and how long does it take you to get to the parks?!?

Thanks in advance!

 

[butterfly8]

I'll go check out your site and also vrbo.com

 

[butterfly8]

by "the big rental companies" do you mean places like Vistana or CPGV?

 

[DaveCN]

Actually, Vistana is a timeshare company, I don't know about the other. Do a google search or look on expedia and you will find a lot of companies that list rentals that are obviously not the owners. vrbo.com, villas2000.com and villadirect.com are a few of the sites that list rentals where you rent directly from the owner.

When I looked into buying, I figured that with all of the fees and commissions that many of the big consolidated management companies charged, I would have to rent it twice as often to make the same amount of money.

Now, if I rent it just twice a month, it pays for itself, and leaves me a nice reserve for repairs and upgrades as needed. If i rented it every week through a mangement company to people I never know in anyway, I was also expecting to need a LOT more for repairs as the furntiure, appliance, carpets, etc. will all get more wear. As well, the utilities will be much higher.

 

[jdm]

We have stayed at Sheratons Vistana, Marriott's Cypress Harbour & Star Island. All were extremely nice. My family personally liked the Vistana the best, for more conveniences, and a family "resort" feel. We own Worldmark and do trades through Interval International and RCI.

We also stayed at Cypress Pointe last year for a few days which I booked thru Hotelkingdom.com. The rate was about $65 a night which was a steal for a two bedroom villa. Hotelkingdom is very reputable and we were very happy with them. Cypress Pointe villa was nice also, and I believe one of the closest timeshares to WDW. The Vistana is also very close. Frankly they were all about a 15 minute (or under drive). Cypress Harbour was closet to Seaworld.

Be careful, if you're like us, once you try condo-ing it-- you'll never want to go back to a hotel room!!!

HTH
Jenn

 

[jdm]

You asked about how you go about using Hotelkingdom.com. You just go to their web site, put it your dates and everything that is available will come up. They have a pretty generous cancellation policy but I believe they charge one night up front for certain accomodations. It'll all be explained on their website. Can't tell you about Skyauction though, as I've never used it.
Jenn

 

[HeatherC]

I would also like to recommend Orange Lake and Vistana Villages. The grounds are beautiful....the pools are great...commute to Disney is easy.

You can also rent from timeshare owners on TUG2.net and just check out the Villages on Starwood.com.

Happy planning!
HeatherC

 

[mbb]

renting points from a DVCer for 2 studios at an on-site resort? Or a 1 or 2 bdr villa?

Check out the DVC rent/trade board for more info!!

Have fun planning!

 

[spiceycat]

when in Dec are you talking about?

if between Christmas and NY - don't cancel your CSR dates yet - this is a very popular time to be in Orlando.

most timeshare rent from Sat to Sat (or Fri to Fri or Sun to Sun) -

most are Sat to Sat

yes you might be able to find something on skyauction -
remember to click on Us/Canada, then Florida, then hotels only

also know that in my opinion some resorts are all ready overprice - although with $700 - you have a lot to spend - first of all take out $195 +$15 (the exchange fee that RCI charges) - so now you can't bid over $490.

that should still give you some resorts. However if you change it to 18th leaving on the 25th - you would probably get more resorts.

if you have any questions about the resorts - just ask!

 

[butterfly8]

Thank you all so much for the quick responses- these boards have never failed me! lol

We have decided that this is definately the way to go, now we just have to settle on a place/price. I checked out hotelkingdom and skyauction. Hotel kingdom had some good rates for our days, skyauction didn't have anything after Dec. 12th yet, so will probably wait around to see if they release anything in the next few weeks.

Thanks again for all your help!
m

 

[spiceycat]

there is another site - more expensive

www.condodirect.com

they have some Marriott for the dates you want - but expect to pay alot more

$979 without taxes.

however Marriott are really one of the best around

the ones with Palms in the name are very close to WDW - the others are right off International Blvd.